FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Brownsville Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison for
Shooting Man While Robbing Him of Necklace

Victim Remains Paralyzed from the Waist Down

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 44-year-old Brooklyn man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for shooting a 23-year-old man as he robbed him of a necklace he was wearing. The attempted murder left the victim paralyzed from his waist down.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant callously shot an innocent man in broad daylight, kept shooting after he was struck and left him paralyzed for nothing more than a piece of jewelry. I am committed to keeping the people of Brooklyn safe and will not tolerate such violence on our streets.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as David Johnson, 44, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Mondo to 25 years to life in prison following his conviction last month of first-degree attempted murder after a jury trial. Because the defendant is a persistent violent felony offender he faced a mandatory sentence of up to life in prison.

The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on May 23, 2016, at approximately 10:50 a.m., the victim, who was 21 at the time and working in construction, was laying bricks for a fence that was being built at the corner of Shepherd and Belmont Avenues in East New York, Brooklyn. The defendant approached him from behind and tried to snatch a necklace from the victim’s neck.

The two struggled and the defendant pulled out a firearm and shot at the victim. The victim fell to the ground and threw the necklace to the defendant in an effort to stop him from continuing to shoot, the evidence showed. But the defendant continued to fire the gun, striking the victim once in the elbow and twice in the torso. He then fled and left behind a baseball hat that fell during the altercation.

Responding officers recovered three spent .40 caliber shell casings and the hat, which contained the defendant’s DNA, according to the evidence. The defendant was arrested on July 23, 2016.

The victim was hospitalized for two months, underwent at least two surgeries and remains paralyzed from the waist down.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Daphney Gachette and Judd Gartenberg, of the District Attorney’s Red Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kin Ng, Bureau Chief.